The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono hosted its first Tuesday card of the year on April 6, with the spotlight on three $17,500 divisions of the first preliminary of the Bobby Weiss Series for three-year-old trotting fillies. And all three divisions finished the same way – with the red, black, and white colors of two-time Driver of the Year Dexter Dunn going under the wire first with the winner.
Dunn combined with trainer Nifty Norman and the ownership grouping of Melvin Hartman, David McDuffee, and Diamond Creek Racing in two of the successes. The first came with the Muscle Hill miss Eazy Pass, who raced second-over, then made a “nifty” move to the inside off the far turn and came up the Pocono Pike to post a maiden victory in 1:56. The team also enjoyed success with the Cantab Hall filly Rebel Girl, who swept to the lead entering the far turn and reduced her mark to 1:56.2 in her initial outing of 2021.
Driver Marcus Miller, trainer Les Givens, and sire Always B Miki all had three winners on the Monday afternoon (April 5) card at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, and their intersection was the sophomore pacing filly Incaseyoudidntknow, whose 1:52.4 victory was the fastest of four divisions in the first preliminary of Bobby Weiss Series action for her group.
In her first start of the year, Incaseyoudidntknow went to the top, yielded, then came back first over nearing the three-quarters. From there, she took the lead into the stretch and coasted to a lifetime-best mile. Now five-for-six in her promising career, soon owners James Magno and Joe Fonte may accumulate enough to buy her an apostrophe.
Rich And Miserable, the 2019 Trotter of the Year at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, moved even closer to $500,000 in career earnings with a 1:54.2 victory in the $11,200 featured event on the Sunday twilight card.
Driver Tyler Buter spotted the Explosive Matter gelding third from post 7 before the :28 quarter, then brushed him to command and put up middle splits of :57 and 1:26. Blenheim made a good charge in the stretch, but the :28.2 last split put up by Rich And Miserable was enough to keep him one-and-a-half lengths ahead of that rival.
The Todd Buter trainee, owned by Buter Farm Inc., Lynette Buter, William and Carol Fuhs, boosted his career bankroll to $494,636 as he recorded his 25th win in 74 trips behind the gate. The veteran has done especially well at Pocono, as his record at the mountain oval is 11 wins in 19 starts, including his last two outings.
One Eight Hundred, the three-year-old colt by the immortal Somebeachsomewhere out of world champion Economy Terror, got his name because he cost $800,000 as a yearling, and Saturday afternoon at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono he looked worth every dollar of it, winning his seasonal debut in 1:50.2 with a startling last quarter of :26.1.
Josert Fonseca left right out to the lead with One Eight Hundred and posted fractions of :28.2, :56.2, and 1:24.1. The sophomore then downshifted on the far turn, the stride becoming both longer and more rapid, and he buzzed the huge final quarter to make himself the fastest three-year-old in North America in 2021.
The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono
WILKES-BARRE PA - Horsemen should note that the conditions for two popular early-season harness racing series at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, the Game Of Claims Series and the Bobby Weiss Series, have been posted online at the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen s Association s website, www.phha.org.
In February The Game Of Claims will have four segments which will feature three weeks of preliminary action for pacing horses entered at a base price of $7500, $10,000, $15,000, and $25,000, with prelim purses equal to the first-round base price, and the claiming price going up to a degree in each subsequent prelim. The top pointwinners in the three preliminary legs will go for a final (out of which there will be no claiming) of double their base claiming price, with those races to be held on Saturday, March 6 and Sunday, March 7. On Mondays in March, $15,000 claiming trotters will race in a series of the same format.